By Volunteer Marjorie Zensen

A quick hike to the far north shore of the Big Island of Hawai’i with our friends Cameron and Izzy Brillhart from Oahu turned into a bit of an adventure.

It was a beautiful day for some exercise at Pololū Beach…so we thought. We quickly went from recreation to “Ocean Defenders” mode!

As seen in the photos, we discovered a few deposits of ocean debris. We estimate the pile of gray rope at 100 feet (see photo below). With the help of a resident who had a knife, we were able to cut it into manageable pieces.

Our new “friend of the ocean” took a big section of the rope and hauled it back up the hill in a laundry basket he had found along with other miscellaneous trash items.

The rest of the gray rope was carried up in sections by tourists from Canada! One of which was a young boy who was so eager to help!!!!

The large pile of rope, line, nets, buoy, and who knows what else wrapped up in there weighed around 200 pounds.

Cameron was determined to at least get a chunk of it free to carry back up the trail and he did!! He was able to untangle about 50 pounds of it which he and Mark trudged up the hill with. Cameron threw it over his back which seemed to work well but it was dirty and messy and hot!!!  Mark’s pockets were bulging with plastics that he had collected on the beach, and I just tied the buoy and a bunch of rope over my shoulder.

As we made our way slowly up the hill, we had many people ask what we were doing, if we were doing a cleanup. It gave me a good opportunity to talk to tourists and residents about ocean debris and encourage them to not walk by trash but, if possible, to pick it up. I wasn’t talking about just at Pololū Beach, but any and everywhere! You don’t need an organized event to pick up trash! 

Lesson learned: ALWAYS carry a knife and some bags!  Even for just a “quick hike.”

Are you on the Big Island and want to help get stuff like this off our beautiful beaches? Great! Please email us and we’ll get you plugged in with the local Ocean Defenders.